Suffolk clinician publishes book on supporting parents with their child’s mental health

One of the UK’s most experienced and respected consultant clinical psychologists – who’s based in Suffolk – has published a new book that aims to support parents with their children’s mental health.

Happy Families: How to protect and support your child’s mental health, written by Dr Beth Mosley MBE, aims to equip parents and carers with the tools they need to tackle anxiety, low mood and difficult behaviours among young people.

The book has received international interest from a number of countries including the USA, France and Greece.

Dr Mosley said: “With the school summer holidays drawing to a close and the start of a new academic school year, September can often be a challenging time for children of all ages.

“It’s not easy being a parent at the moment.  We’ve just navigated an unexpected pandemic and continue to face other ongoing uncertainties that impact both our stress levels and our children’s.

“We are hearing it all the time, how children’s mental health difficulties are massively increasing and there are limited services to help.

“As a parent your anxiety goes through the roof when you hear that 50% of mental health difficulties in adulthood start before the age of 15 and 75% before 24.

“Happy Families has been inspired by the many families I have worked with over the years.

“The information I have shared with these families has made such a difference to them and their children’s lives.”

Beth added: “Surprisingly, despite the fact that there has never been a time when children’s mental health has been of so much interest to parents, there is not a book out there that provides this critical information in one place. Which is what inspired me to write this book.

“Happy Families is packed with the most important things every parent needs to know about their child’s mental health. And it’s not just why, it is what to do – it provides the practical tools for parents to support their children from ages 4 through to 21. Based on 20 years of experience as a clinician and a parent it is a jargon-free warm companion and guide to any parent in what can sometimes feel like a lonely journey.

“Young people’s mental health is not just an area of concern for parents in the UK, it is a global challenge. Happy Families will be published in many different languages, including Korean, French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Romanian and Greek. It is also to be published in the USA.”

Dr Mosley was one of the first clinical psychologists in the country to be appointed full-time within a local secondary school. She works locally for the NHS both as a children’s and young people’s mental health clinical lead and a consultant clinical psychologist in children’s mental health services.

Her contribution to children’s mental health during the pandemic was recognised in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List with an MBE.

Copies of Dr Mosley’s book are available from any good book store and Amazon as kindle, hard-back and Audible.

Read more about the book via the Pan Macmillan website.